The Trouble with Party Politics

I have friends that by the time the election rolls around they go apeshit for their party and their candidate, even if before the primaries they hated said candidate. Now he, or she is the man/woman for the job. Because that is who the party picked. Instead of supporting a third party option, however futile, they hit the party and head straight for the bowl of nuts.

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text use_border_color=”off” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.15″] You see that there “Unaffiliated” on my voter registration? I got a new one, moving to another city and all. It has pretty much always been there, except for during the 1980 primary elections when I was a Republican, cause I thought Ronnie Rayguns was the total shit. I am mostly unaffiliated because every time I try and start the American Anarchist Party, it always dissolves into chaos from the word go. No idea why. Anywho. The parties. I have friends, on Facebook and such whom I regard and have respect for, but by the time the election rolls around they go apeshit for their party and their candidate, even if before the primaries they hated said candidate. Now he, or she is the man/woman for the job. All because that is who the party picked. And rather than use good sense in throwing their support behind a third party option, however futile, they hit the party and head straight for the bowl of nuts. It’s a mental disease they get with regularity that causes some rather obscene behavior:

Honestly I have no real interest in saying much about the candidates themselves. They are the chief clowns in the two-ring circus…

They post or share memes from, well, the worse than tabloid source called “Social Media” and bad articles from “news” sites (read… pundit blogs) ad infinitum, all badly designed/written with graphics and text representing a skewed, false or worse partially true fact or set thereof. Honestly I have no real interest in saying much about the candidates themselves. They are the chief clowns in the two-ring circus orchestrated for the entertainment of the deluded masses, who mistakenly believe they have something resembling a choice. As for the candidates, they are both accomplished and educated people. Neither of whom is worthy of holding any office embodying the public trust, least of all that of the President. Enough on the candidates, they are the symptom, not the disease. They, and their personal cadre of the meme-ing multitudes represent the two party arrangement which our system of Governance has devolved to. A condition that exists despite the best efforts and intentions of the wisest of our founders, a personal hero, General George Washington. One can read all about it in George’s valediction given ten-score and twenty years ago. At which time he opportuned to clearly warn of the dire consequences of the spirit of party-ism, to onlookers who had already coalesced into such groups, setting us on the road to desolation, whose destination we now rapidly approach. Among those ignoring George were notably Alexander Hamilton, of the Federalist party, supporting strong centralized control and the interests of the wealthy northern factors and burgeoning industrialists, and Thomas Jefferson with the Democrat-Republicans (now ain’t that funny) representing the wealthy farmers and planters of the south. Dear friends, overtaken by this sad case of temporary insanity… You may feel it is your civic duty to take up the chant of your party. To you I say, you are witty indeed, but you are not wise. Your loud support for undeserving and unworthy people does you no credit. Oh for the quiet voice of moderation and reason, drowned and near dead in the sea of divisiveness and deceit. And so I quote from the aforementioned farewell address the warning and largely ignored allusions to the end result of unrestrained party politics:

“… the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.” – George Washington, September 19, 1796

George steps away from the podium, looks at Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. George: “You guys are totally gonna fuck this up aren’t you?” Alex: “You know it dude.” TJ nods his head soberly, being an elder statesman and all. Across the way, Aaron Burr points the gun finger at Alexander Hamilton and mouths “BANG!” grins real big and waggles his eyebrows at Thomas Jefferson, who throws the horns. \ii/ Yup, founding of our great party system right there…. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

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Introvert, autodidact, polymath, writer, photographer, spiritual seeker, philosopher and mystic. Those are me. With abundant fascinations, fixations. foibles and flakiness. I love much and hate not at all. Welcome to my world.